7 Reasons to visit the 34th Manila International Book Fair

SMX Convention Center , Mall of Asia , Pasay City-Philippines

SMX Convention Center

The 34th Manila International Book Fair is organized by Primetrade Asia , Incorporated in partnership with  Asian Catholic Communicators, Inc., Book Development Association of the Philippines, Philippine Booksellers Association, Inc., and the Overseas  Publishers Representatives Organization of the Philippines.

Among the media partners include Wazzup Pilipinas , Rappler, Manila Bulletin among others. Wazzup Pilipinas : http://www.wazzuppilipinas.com/

Book Development Board,  the organizers ,  Hon. Maria Leonor Robredo ,Mrs. Marita Teresa Cancio-Suplico and Mr. Tommy Suplico of Goodwill Bookstore

The event started with a mass attended by the main players of the Philippine book industry players, organizers , students , media partners. After the ribbon cutting ceremony, the guests of honor toured the fair site .

ribbon cutting ceremony

There are the 7 Reasons to visit the ongoing Book Fair

Bargain Books

7.) Bargain Books and other Reading Materials–  Book lovers , Book collectors, Librarians,  Professionals, Young Adults , Children books, Text books, Inspirational books- you name it they got it! In case you missed a book title or two, You can get the business cards and  their contact information . Book publishers are there and their friendly sales representatives  are there to help you.

Goethe Institut- Philippinen

6.) On the Spot Contest & FREEBIES– Almost all the commercial booths within the expo site had some sort of promotion and contest.  This sharpens ones’ mind and makes your stay enjoyable !!!!  Goethe Institute -Philippinen  volunteers gave a questionnaire those who registers at their booth . The one who get all the right answer will have a chance to win a FREE German language course !!!!!

 Cafe Puro

Cafe Puro promodizers gave away FREE coffee to the visitors

Inspirational speaker Mr. Francis Kong together with Mr. Ross Del Rosario ( Wazzup Pilipinas)

5.) Meet and Greet Celebrities  – Our group noticed that  there is a long queue of line at the  CSM Publishing booth.  Then there is Mr. Francis Kong – You can hear him in his daily Radio Program “Business Matters” which was given a Year 2007 special citation by the Catholic Mass Media Awards. He is an author of 10 books !

CSM Publishing House is having a promo during the 5 day – book fair, The books are discounted at dazzlingly low prices ! We bought several books at the CSM booth.  ” Being the BEST you Can Ever Be” is one of the books being sold at a rock bottom price ! From the original price of Php 500  , the book is sold at Php 100 plus a chance to have it signed with the author himself !

Mr. Francis Kong : http://franciskong.com/

PSICOM booth with book enthusiasts waiting  for the book author

The company is one of the exhibitors of the on going book fair . One of the recently published books ” Bakit Hindi Ka Crush Ng Crush Mo? ” is a 2013 Filipino film adaptation of Ramon Bautista’s novel of the same title.  The book was released in 2012 .

a student waiting in line

Website : http://www.psicompublishing.com/zen/

The PSI Publication has an active online forum and is popular among Filipino anime and pop culture readers.

Professor Agusto De Viana

Mr. Allen Lau and Ms. Kristel Tan

Our group also had the opportunity to meet Mr. Allen Lau and Ms. Kristel Tan of Waatpad : http://www.wattpad.com/

An unlimited, ever-growing library of free books and stories all in the palm of your hand! On Wattpad, millions of people are discovering great fiction, sharing stories with friends and following their favorite authors chapter-by-chapter.

Rex Bookstore – With their eye catching exhibit!

4.) Interesting Booths – There are a lot of interesting booths at the show, You have a feeling that  you are in a fairly land or somewhere else !

Philippine Science Centrum

The Philippine Science Centrum exhibit is located within Goodwill Bookstore area. It is their second year of participation at the expo.

Goodwill Bookstore booth

Goodwill Bookstore with their eye catching blue colored signage thrills any visitor to the event.  A lot of their books are discounted up to 75% OFF for 75 days on selected titles -the promo duration started last July 18 , 2013 and up to December 30, 2013 (per DTI permit no. 7930 series of 2013). The bookstore had a lot of interesting collectible Froebel-Kan  picture book series printed by a  Japanese book printer The Toppan Printing Co., Ltd .  It is named after German educator Friedrich Wilhelm A. Froebel (1782-1852). He established the first kindergarten in the world and also opened centers for training childcare providers.  Most kindergarten children here in the Philippines still remember that it was Goodwill bookstore which introduced to the market the wipe-FREE books !

Diwa Publishing

3.) Interactive Booths- While there are friendly sales staff in many booths, some exhibitors had made more efforts for them to have interactive displays for the techie generations .

Groiler Books

2.) Seminars , Lectures and Workshops – academe, researchers , students and the public meet and discuss their papers , topics or issues  that affect the industry .

3D Hologram postcards

cash purse

National Historical Commission of the Philippines booth

1.) Unique Products and Filipianiana books- Uniquely Philippine made products such as pencil holder and Philippine printed books such as hard to find Filipinana , historical books, inspirational books that were printed in the country. The quantity of the books is not that many.  Although the Philippine book industry is not that big compared to its Asian counterparts , the ongoing 34th Manila International Book Fair  shed new hope for the book industry  – The book fair will run until September 15, 2013.

Note: I would like to ” Thank” the organizers for the invitation and accommodation ” extended during the event.

Prime Trade Asia: http://www.primetradeasia.com/

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